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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Hellenistic Monarchies| ▸ |Armenian Kingdom||View Options:  |  |  | 

Armenian Kingdom

The ancient Kingdom of Armenia existed for six centuries, divided into successive reigns by three royal dynasties: Orontid (321-200 BC), Artaxiad (189 BC-12 AD) and Arsacid (52-428). The Persian satrapy Armenia became a kingdom in 321 B.C. after Alexander's conquest of Persia. Under the Seleucid Empire, Armenia was divided into Armenia Major and Sophene, both of which passed to members of the Artaxiad dynasty in 189 B.C. The Kingdom of Armenia peaked from 83 to 69 B.C., under Tigranes the Great, after it reincorporated Sophene and conquered the falling Seleucid Empire. Armenia was an empire for a brief period, until it was conquered by Rome in 69 B.C. The Artaxiad kings ruled as clients of Rome until, suspected of allegiance to Parthia, they were overthrown in 12 A.D. During the Roman-Parthian Wars, the Arsacid dynasty was founded when Tiridates I, a member of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, was proclaimed King of Armenia in 52. The Kingdom of Armenia often served as a client state or vassal at the frontier of the two large empires and their successors, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. From 114 to 118, Armenia briefly became a Roman province. In 301, Tiridates III proclaimed Christianity as the state religion, making the Armenian kingdom the first state to officially embrace Christianity. Armenian Kingdom

Kingdom of Armenia Minor, Uncertain King, c. 2nd Century B.C.

|Armenian| |Kingdom|, |Kingdom| |of| |Armenia| |Minor,| |Uncertain| |King,| |c.| |2nd| |Century| |B.C.||AE| |12|
The legend on the reverse is blundered, probably Aramaic, though some have identified it as pseudo Greek. In any case, it is illegible on all of the, about a dozen, examples known to FORVM. Without a legible inscription, the king and his queen are unidentified and likely to remain so.
GB98190. Bronze AE 12, Unpublished, Kovacs -, et al. -, VF, dark patina, well centered, uneven strike with bottom weak on both sides, weight 1.067 g, maximum diameter 11.6 mm, die axis 0o, c. 2nd century B.C.; obverse head of Armenian king left, wearing bashlyk tied with a diadem, uncertain Aramaic legend around; reverse draped bust of uncertain queen to right; about a dozen known to FORVM; $240.00 (€242.40)
 


Armenian Kingdom, Tigranes IV and Erato, Second Reign, c. 2 B.C. - 4 A.D.

|Armenian| |Kingdom|, |Armenian| |Kingdom,| |Tigranes| |IV| |and| |Erato,| |Second| |Reign,| |c.| |2| |B.C.| |-| |4| |A.D.||dichalkon|
This remarkable type was only discovered in 1978. In 2014, one of the best examples to come to auction but still only aVF, realized $12,370 plus fees! In "Tigranes IV, V, and VI: New Attributions" in AJN 20 (2008), Frank Kovacs convincingly attributes this type to Tigranes IV and notes the view is of Mt. Ararat from the perspective of the city of Artaxata. The beardless portrait fits the youthful Tigranes IV and, although not visible on most examples, the legend on the reverse, ΦIΛOKAIΣAP, refers to the Armenian king's affection for his Roman ally, Augustus.
SH85956. Bronze dichalkon, Kovacs AJN 20 p. 340 and pl. 81, 5; Bedoukian CCA 128 (Tigranes II); Nercessian ACV 122 (Tigranes II); MDHRAC -, F, porous, weak legends not visible - as on most known specimens, weight 4.214 g, maximum diameter 19.1 mm, die axis 0o, Artaxata (Artashat, Armenia) mint, 2nd reign, c. 2 B.C.; obverse ...EME - TIΓPAN (or similar), jugate busts of Tigranes and Erato right, Tigranes draped and wearing a tall Armenian tiara with five point and ornamented with a star; reverse ΦIΛOKAIΣAP (friend of Caesar), twin peaks of Mount Ararat, as seen from the Armenian capital Artaxata, A (regnal year 1) below; extremely rare; SOLD


Armenian Kingdom, Tigranes V (Herodian Tigranes I), c. 6 - 12 A.D.

|Armenian| |Kingdom|, |Armenian| |Kingdom,| |Tigranes| |V| |(Herodian| |Tigranes| |I),| |c.| |6| |-| |12| |A.D.||two| |chalkoi|
"The reign of Tigranes V has generally been described as uneventful; his coins are similarly unremarkable. They do not commemorate any historical or military events but merely copy designs common to the Seleucid and autonomous city coinage of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Phoenicia. The standing Herakles/Vahagn, which was employed extensively by Tigranes the Great (CCA, 99-103), would have had particular appeal for the Phoenician population, as well as the Armenian." -- Frank L. Kovacs in "Tigranes IV, V, and VI: New Attributions"
SH76981. Bronze two chalkoi, Kovacs AJN 20 6, Nercessian ACV 158 (Tigranes IV), Bedoukian CCA 153 (same), VF, superb portrait, nice green patina, old scratch on obverse, weight 5.606 g, maximum diameter 21.7 mm, die axis 0o, Damascus(?) mint, c. 6 - 12 A.D.; obverse heavily bearded head of Tigranes IV right, wearing Armenian tiara; reverse BAΣIΛEΩC TIΓPANOY MEΓAΛOY, Herakles-Vahagn standing slightly left, nude, right hand resting on grounded club, Nemean lion skin draped over left arm; ex Pecunem Numismatik Naumann auction 34 (2 Aug 2015), lot 496 (price realized €522.50 including fees); rare; SOLD










REFERENCES

Babelon, E. Les Rois de Syrie, d'Arménie, et de Commagène, Catlogue de monnaies grecques de la Bibliothèque Nacionale. (Paris, 1890).
Langlois, V. Numismatique de l'Arménie. (Paris, 1859).
Bedoukian, P. "Coinage of the Armenian Kingdoms of Sophene and Commagene" in ANSMN 28 (New York, 1983).
Bedoukian, P. Coinage of the Artaxiads of Armenia. RNS Special Publication 10. (London, 1978).
Gardner, P. Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, The Seleucid Kings of Syria. (Forni reprint, 1963).
Kovacs, F. "Additions and corrections to Armenian coins and their values" in Armenian Numismatic Journal 30/3 (2004).
Kovacs, F. Armenian Coinage in the Classical Period. CNS 10. (Lancaster, PA, 2016).
Kovacs, F. "Tigranes IV, V, and VI: New Attributions" in AJN 20. (2008).
Lindgren, H. Lindgren III: Ancient Greek Bronze Coins from the Lindgren Collection. (Quarryville, 1993).
Mousheghian, A. & G. Depeyrot. Hellenistic and Roman Armenian Coinage (1st c. BC - 1st c. AD). Moneta 15. (Wettern, 1999).
Mousheghian, K., et al. History and Coin Finds in Armenia: Coins from Duin, Capital of Armenia. Moneta 18. (Wetteren, 2000).
Nercessian, Y. Armenian Coins and Their Values. ANS Special Publication No. 8. (Los Angeles, 1995).
Nercessian, Y. Catalogue of Armenian Coins Collected by Y.T. Nercessian. Armenian Numismatic Society, Special Publication 14. (Los Angeles, 2008).
Nercessian, Y. "Coinage of the Armenian Kingdom of Sophene (ca. 260-70 B.C.)" in Armenian Numismatic Journal 37.3. (Sep 2011).
Nercessian, Y. Silver Coinage of the Artaxiad Dynasty of Armenia. (Los Angeles, 2006).
Nercessian, Y. "Silver Coins of Artavasdes II of Armenia" in Armenian Numismatic Journal 29-1. (March 2003).
Nercessian, Y. "Silver Coins of Tigranes II of Armenia" in Armenian Numismatic Journal 26-3 & 4. (December 2000).
Nercessian, Y. "Tigranes the Great of Armenia and the Mint of Damascus" in Armenian Numismatic Journal 22-1 (March 1996).
Newell, E. Late Seleucid Mints in Ake-Ptolemais and Damascus. ANSNNM 84 (1939).
Vardanyan, R. "A Dated Copper Coin of Artaxias II: Evidence on the Use of the Pompeyan Era in Artaxata" in Armenian Numismatic Journal XXVII (2001).

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